Those that Visit

Where are the pass rushers? Matt Barrows printed the names of names of prospects of those who have, or will, visit the 49ers. They are:

OT Andre Smith (Alabama)

OT Michael Oher (Mississippi)

DT B.J. Raji (Boston College)

QB Mark Sanchez (USC)

WR Michael Crabtree (Texas Tech)

Not mentioned of course, pass rushers Everette Brown (Florida State), Aaron Maybin (Penn State) and Tennessee’s Robert Ayers. However, a visit doesn’t guarantee the 49ers will pick the player. Alex Smith visited before the 49ers made him the first overall pick in 2005, I believe tight end Vernon Davis visited before his drafting in 2007, and I’m not sure about Manny Lawson and Joe Staley in 2006, or Kentwan Balmer last year.

General manager Scot McCloughan said visits are typically made to check out a pecularity about prospect and all five mentioned above, have an issue or two:

Andre Smith: Contact with an agent eliminated him from participation in the Sugar Bowl. He declined to go through drills at the combine, and then left Indianapolis, apparently without telling anyone. During his pro day, Smith, in bad need of a manssiere, ran his 40-yard dash without a shirt.

Michael Oher: father abandoned the family, his mother struggled with drug addiction, leaving Oher to basically raise himself until he was taken in by a wealthy, Christian family in his native Memphis. Without proper socialization, Oher didn’t know how to shake hands until he was 16 and didn’t know basic word meanings such as “ocean” and “birds nest.” He has come along way, but the lack of proper brain development leaves an open question as to how he’ll handle the playbook and the living situation in the far-flung West Coast.

B.J. Raji: The 330-pound nose guard dominated during Senior Bowl practices against highly-touted centers Alex Mack, Eric Wood and Max Unger. Recently, it was revealed he tested positive (presumably for weed) at the college combine. That’s at least worth a discussion with the young man. Raji is expected to go in the top five, but could that go up in smoke with his positive drug test? The 49ers wouldn’t mind if it did.

Michael Crabtree: A stress fracture in his foot has raised questions. The 49ers like speed at wide out, and Crabtree was unable to run an injury-free 40 before because of his foot.

Mark Sanchez: Possibly the most intriguing prospect because of the position he plays. With the leadership a quarterback demands, having him visit is always a good idea, but with Mike Nolan gone, who’s going to run him through ridiculous drills to test his ability to blindly follow authority? They could hire a consultant for that. The question with Sanchez is his lack of experience and the talent surrounding him. Was his success a result of talented USC offense? And could his plighted performance in the loss to Oregon State indicate a proclivity towards inconsistency? Sanchez also might be overvalued because he worked out of Pete Carroll’s pro style offense, a scheme that’s growing increasingly rare with the prevalence of the college spread. Because of his background at USC, Sanchez won’t need to learn a quarterback drop for example, which makes scouting him much easier. And, of course, drafting a quarterback in the first round is a risk, because they often fail.

It’s possible the 49ers won’t be looking at an outside pass rusher with the 10th pick. Comcast recently asked McCloughan about the 10th selection, and McCloughan guesstimated that he have the choice between two players he wants at that spot. If he was considering pass rushers, he probably be looking at more than two players at 10.